For the Ibikunle Amosun administration, the dream of making Ogun State a habour for local and foreign investments has been realised.
What more could a state, which at a point in the manufacturing sector attracted 75 per cent of Foreign Direct Investment in the country (according to the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria), ask for? This surely is no mean achievement. Why will the helmsman of such a state not be proud of his achievements?
This does not, by any stretch of the imagination, suggest that the state can now rest on its laurels. It only proves that when a government devotes its time to doing the right thing, it must get the right results. And Amosun is still consumed with passion for industrial development of Ogun State.
The phenomenal rise in the number of industries that established their presence in Ogun State in recent years can only be attributed to the enabling environment created by the current government.
The latest addition (International Breweries Plc) to the stream of industries flowing into the state will only spur the government to continue to strive to ensure the state is the very first choice for local and foreign investors.
As it stands today in Nigeria, it is easier to list the number of companies yet to be in Ogun State than attempt to count the number of multi-billion naira industries that berthed in the state in the last seven years of the administration.
The gargantuan investments by the current government in security, road, power and ‘Ease of Doing Business,’ which earned the state a recognition by the World Bank, have clearly yielded salutary results.
Last Tuesday in Ogun State, the biggest and most modern brewery in Nigeria was unveiled. It is the largest plant in West Africa, constructed at a cost of N90bn. IBL Plc is the sixth largest industry listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange with market capitalisation of about N275bn.
Soyombo Opeyemi,
Abeokuta, Ogun State
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